In a brand new 17-minute episode this month, the Modern Family podcast returns with Broom from the popular blog, Confessions from the Closet.

Podcast by Amrita Rajan 

Broom is also the Co-founder of GaysiFamily – one of the first desi LGBT-oriented websites to give equal voice to the Indian lesbian experience. She talks about the modern Indian marriage as someone who was once in a conservative marriage with a man and is now in a deeply committed relationship with a woman.

We discuss:

- The difficulties of growing up, embracing our identities, and learning to vocalize our emotions

- The changing face of India as it slowly begins to accept the LGBT community

- Coming out as queer to friends and family, online and offline

- Interracial relationships and same-gender relationships

- The importance of equality in marriage

- Expecting better from our spouses vs. “learning to adjust”

Click to play or use the download button to listen at your leisure!

In our new series of podcasts, ‘Modern Family’, we explore the state of the modern Indian marriage with people from various walks of life.

First up on this 15-minute episode is Orange Jammies, a feminist blogger and (almost) newlywed, talking about her own marriage and how she has seen gender roles changing in our daily lives.

In this podcast we discuss:

- Housework – who does it and why?

- Nature vs. Nurture – what drives men and women toward an equal partnership?

- Role Models – the importance of role models from the opposite gender.

- Generation – the meaning of marriage for the younger set.

(The podcast begins with a discussion of a recent ad for a breakfast product – if you haven’t seen the ad in question, check it out here). 

Click to play or click on the download button and listen at your leisure!

Is celebrity baby culture here to stay in India? Do celebrities like Lara Dutta and Aamir Khan have some lessons for us? Listen to the first Women’s Web podcast!

By Amrita Rajan

Everything the Bachchans do makes the news – even if it’s just being born. This is the lesson we learned from the arrival of “Beti B”, the daughter of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. It was such a hotly anticipated event, even in these troubled times, that the I&B Ministry actually sent out guidelines for news crews to follow.

In the first episode of the Spotlight podcast, Sunayana Roy of the blog Sunny Days joins me to discuss:

- Has celebrity baby culture officially arrived in India?

- Is the Bachchan family’s obvious joy at welcoming a granddaughter a positive sign for society at large?

- Can celebrities really influence other people’s child raising choices?

- Lara Dutta and maternity wear against the backdrop of Indian pregnancy superstitions

- The phenomenon of “too posh to push” – a convenient cover for doctors who like to push costly C-sections on their patients?

- The generational gap: will we turn into our mothers?

- Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao’s surrogacy boosting morale

Celeb Baby Culture: Here to stay? by Women’s Web

For all this and more, click on the podcast above to play!

If there is a topic you’d like to see covered on this show or have other suggestions for us, we’d love to hear from you in the comment section.

Pic credit: Boris

Even as reality shows on Indian television channels showcase the talent of gifted children, what do they tell children about Winning?

By Amrita Rajan

The great reality show juggernaut that established Zee TV as a  ratings superstar in the Wild West days of 1990s cable television was Antakshari. Based on a popular parlour game usually played by children, it featured adult contestants, a live band, and a host who was palpably passionate about music. Five years after it aired its last episode, however, things are very different – now children on Indian television channels take part in reality show competitions originally designed for adults, with lackluster celebrity judges who often bring nothing to the table other than their ego.

Indian television discovered the power of cute child actors when Balika Vadhu – the story of a child bride who must balance her dreams of a bright, independent future with her untimely marriage in a conservative, rural society – became an unlikely ratings phenomenon. In the years since, the number of fiction programs featuring little children has increased exponentially: Aap ki Antara (Zee), Uttaran (Colors), and Phulwa (Colors) all adapted the Balika Vadhu formula of marrying an ostensibly social message with extremely familiar melodrama to tremendous profit. Even historical epics like Jhansi ki Rani (Zee), Chandragupta Maurya (Imagine), and Veer Sivaji (Colors) begin with the lead characters as brave children who live startlingly adult lives. No normal childhood for these kids, not when they have to grow up into national icons. These children are martial arts experts, waging war and playing politics, exhibiting a strong sense of patriotic duty, completely dedicated to serving the mother nation.
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Female bonding seems to take a backseat in cinema, be it women-centric or otherwise.

By Amrita Rajan

The first thing my brother did upon getting his driver’s license was to set off on a short road trip to visit the extended family. He simply woke up at the crack of dawn, dragged a cousin out of bed for company, left word for all concerned parents with a passing servant, and drove off in his pajamas. I thought it was an excellent demonstration of the fact that we didn’t live in a gender equal world, no matter what our parents told us or how comfortable I got in my little oasis of privilege.

Had the genders been reversed, for instance, there was no way my female cousin and I could have gotten away with pulling a stunt like that. First, the old family servant who’d taken my brother’s offhand message with a conspiratorial grin would have chained himself to us if necessary rather than let us out of the house without so much as a word to our mothers. Nor would the aunt and uncle who received my brother later that day with big smiles for his little lark have been half as happy or impressed to see me under similar circumstances. And never in a million years would I have taken the recommendation of one of the family drivers and stopped at a toddy shop along the way for lunch, no matter how excellent their down-home cooking, least of all when dressed in my pajamas.

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A growing celebrity culture and 24×7 connectivity means that ‘role models’ today exist only as long as their 15 minutes of fame.

By Amrita Rajan

I’ve yet to sit through an entire episode of Simi Garewal’s India’s Most Desirable without cringing so terribly in second-hand embarrassment for everyone involved that I had to change the channel. But watching the youthful, enthusiastic audience on it makes me wonder if she knows something I don’t. Maybe these painfully young celebrities, trying to act more worldly than their years, who have nothing interesting to say other than the fact that they’re rich and good-looking, are the role models of today.

Even the term “role model” seems charmingly old-fashioned these days, more suited to beauty pageants and earnest 10-year olds in need of an essay topic. It used to be that a role model was someone you selected because their achievements held personal meaning for you – now they and their fabulous lives come pre-packaged and ready for consumption via a host of media, all of them focused on what sells.  Continue reading →

Are women’s magazines in India interested in the reality and wider experiences of today’s women?

By Amrita Rajan

Regardless of gender, age or interest, at some point or the other, most of us have read a woman’s magazine. Our mothers subscribed to it, some auntie was always using you as a guinea pig for an exotic recipe she discovered in one, girl friends smuggled it into school to giggle over the sex column, guy friends borrowed it to find out more about women, you’ve leafed through it at the beauty parlour. Nominally, they target a niche audience, but when the aforesaid niche is half the population, it’s no wonder that the ladymags are shaping the national consciousness in subtle ways.

Neither is it surprising that in a country like India, with its several languages and varying socio-economic realities, women’s magazines cater to a variety of tastes. And over the years, the difference between the so-called vernacular publications and the English magazines, whether it’s homegrown or the Indian edition of an international brand, has grown vast.

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If there’s one thing Bollywood can teach parents, it’s what NOT to do. Take a look at the 5 Worst Bollywood Daddies ever!

By Amrita Rajan

Since the general conceit of a movie requires some kind of conflict for the characters to solve, nobody should be surprised that Bollywood isn’t exactly brimming over with great father figures. After all, the introduction of good parenting immediately removes several tried-and-tested plots from our beloved family blockbusters. For example, they say Indian storytelling will always be indebted to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Two epics brimming over with bad parenting decisions.

This month, with Father’s Day just having gone by, let’s look at some of the worst decisions a father can make… Bollywood-style.

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The Assembly Elections of 2011 have swept Didi and Amma to power, but is life for Indian women in politics any easier?

By Amrita Rajan

In addition to the President of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, not to mention Sonia Gandhi, the results of the 2011 Assembly Elections mean that four of India’s states are now governed by women. You’d think this was a wonderful moment for women in our country’s history, but only if you don’t read any further. Says the Globe and Mail:

They are extraordinary individuals, these women – a former film star, a woman from the “untouchable” caste who grew up in a slum, a rabble-rouser in flip-flops whose skull was once splintered by the Communists she has implacably opposed. But when they are considered as a group, their ascension to power offers a number of insights into change in India.

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Mangoes as sex aids and deodorants turning women into nymphomaniacs – Indian advertising seems unable to think beyond Sex to Sell.

By Amrita Rajan

The beautiful woman on the TV screen has a secret smile on her face as she fondles and caresses a mango into full ripeness. A sexy, languorous voice informs the viewer that it’s always better to take your time. Wait for it, she insists. The camera zooms in on her fingers as she delicately squeezes a single drop of juice onto her waiting lips. Greedily, she licks at it. This Katrina Kaif ad is selling mango juice.

Mummy’s summer stand-by is now practically a sex-aid, re-packaged and re-imagined as “Aamsutra”: a combination of delicious mango and imaginative sex, I presume. Try pouring out a glass of that for your kid. But perhaps your kid will insist upon it: the fantastic drink that put such a smirk on Katrina aunty’s face.

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